Think about a merger of Grand Rapids, East Grand Rapids schools, a contrast in rich-poor districts

East Grand Rapids Public Schools stand in stark contrast to the neighbor that borders them on three sides.

While Grand Rapids contends with the poverty and struggles of an urban system, “East” is a pocket of affluence and academic success.

Only 5 percent of its 3,000 students are considered economically disadvantaged, and more than 90 percent reach proficiency on state math and reading tests. Just 8 percent are minorities.

Educators said there is more to consolidating school districts than saving money, including working toward equity by breaking down the walls between rich and poor neighborhoods.

“Maybe someday we won’t educate children according to defined political or geographic boundaries, but according to programs that have the resources to support them,” Grand Rapids Superintendent Bernard Taylor said.

In his district, only about 50 percent of the 18,500 students are at state math and reading proficiency, according to the Council of Chief State School Officers. About 87 percent of students are economically disadvantaged, and 79 percent are minorities.

Countywide districts in other states find ways to break up areas of extreme poverty.

“You have to find a way to maximize your resources so every building has what it needs to help every child,” said James Browder, superintendent of Lee County Schools in Florida, where 43 percent of the students are economically disadvantaged. “You can’t have situations where you have the best buildings only where the rich and famous live.”

East Grand Rapids Superintendent Sara Shubel said her district’s size, not necessarily its makeup, is the key reason for its success.

She said the size is considered optimal by many experts, and staff members at the elementary buildings can be “on the same page” with those in the middle and high schools, allowing for seamless transitions.

“If a school is too small, it can’t offer as many opportunities,” she said. “We can offer comparable opportunities to a school the size of the Forest Hills high schools, but perhaps not as many sections of classes.

“But if a school is too big, you have to start looking for ways to break it down into communities.”

Residents of each district involved in a merger must approve a plan for it to happen, and experts said that is difficult, especially because of emotional attachment and community identity.

Sharif Shakrani

But Sharif Shakrani, a Michigan State University professor of measurement and quantitative methods, said parents also worry about academics.

Shakrani, who studied consolidation issues for The Press and affiliated newspapers, said parents in high performing districts worry that academic programs would be watered down in a merger. That doesn’t have to be the case, he said.

Few parents, he added, consider the other outcome, that a merger can bring changes that improve achievement for students in another district.

Leaders in small, rural districts said mergers work better for suburban systems than rural areas. The Kent City district has the fewest students in Kent County but covers many square miles.

Superintendent Bill Smith said a merger with neighboring Sparta might look good on paper until transportation times and costs are considered.

“We have some kids on buses for 45 minutes each way already,” he said. “We would never have two high schools in a combined district, which means we’d be busing students from Newaygo and Muskegon counties all the way down to Sparta. You’d have kids on buses for an hour and a half.”